Monuments
by AssasinNinja
Summary: An alternate timeline for our heroes takes us to an entirely different future. A family drama unfolds, connected by the lives of three people, the original members of Team Kakashi. A gritty grounded take on the Naruto story, spun in a new direction, weaves a tale that stays true to its source material, while exploring new ground. Featuring new and old characters alike. NaruSaku
1. Prologue

**Prologue.**

"Here's one! Here's one," Naruto drunkenly chuckled, "12 years of war, for one day of peace!"

"An hour if we're lucky."

"And we're not!"

"No, we are not." Shikamaru agreed, sighing, "Ah, well. Here-here."

The clink of their shot glasses echoed dismally throughout the small bar. They threw back the fiery alcohol and grunted to each other, then returned the empty glasses to their respective spots on the chinsy table. Naruto wiped his mouth, Shikamaru rubbed his eyes. They were drunk, sleepy, and yet utterly full of energy.

It had been 12 years since they stepped foot in their home village of Konoha. They had arrived late, around midnight, and had spent the last three hours drinking in an all-night bar. It had also been several years since they had ingested alcohol, and it was showing in their lack of tolerance.

"Gimme a cigarette, Shikamaru."

"You don't smoke."

"So?"

Shikamaru shrugged and reached for the pack in his vest pocket. He drew two cigarettes, one for his companion, and one for him.

"Thanks." Naruto said, taking the small white cylinder and popping it in his mouth.

"Hey." From behind the bar, a brutish man cleaning a glass spoke up, "There's no smoking in here."

Naruto stared at the bartender blankly, then turned back to Shikamaru, "A light please, pal."

"Yeah why not." Shikamaru reached for his box of matches and lit one unceremoniously, he held the flaming stick up to his friend's cigarette.

"Hey!" The bartender repeated, putting the glass down and slapping his cleaning rag against the hard oak of the bar, "What did I just say?"

"I don't recall." Naruto said, taking a coughing inhale of the smoke, "Do you, Shikamaru?"

"Alright, ass-hole, you've got about a half second to put out that cigarette before I shove it down your throat." The gruff-man threatened.

"I would watch it if I were you," Shikamaru sighed, "You're talking to the next Hokage right now."

"Yeah right, and I'm the Princess of the Land of Snow."

"I've met her." Naruto said, turning to his friend, "He doesn't look much like her."

"Alright buddy, time is up." The bartender said, stepping out from behind the bar with a small baton in his hand, ready to fight.

Naruto stood up as well, revealing for the first time his face in the full light of the bar's one and only overhead lamp.

"You're-you're-you're Naruto Uzumaki."

"Told you." Shikamaru said.

"Forgive me, Lord Hokage!" The bartender begged, prostrate, before Naruto.

"Whoa, hey, I'm not Hokage quite yet." Naruto said, "Ceremony's tomorrow. You coming?"

"Of course, Lord Uzumaki!" The bartender nervously nodded and smiled at the inebriated knuckle-head, which only made Naruto feel guilty.

"Hey, it's Naruto, alright?"

"And smoke in here all you want! Stay as long as you want to!"

"Actually," Naruto turned to Shikamaru, "We were just leaving. Sorry for being such an asshole."

"Come again please! Congratulations Lord Hokage!" The bartender cheered as they exited the dirty green lighting of the bar.

"I said: it's Naruto." Naruto groaned as Shikamaru shut the door behind them.

"Well 'Lord Hokage', we got a couple of hours left until morning," Shikamaru slurred, "Whattya wanna do?"

"I got one or two things in mind." Naruto said, smiling up at the Hokage monument.

* * *

Far away, in a deserted clearing, a young boy was shouting.

"Sharingan! Sharingan! Sharingan! God dammit!" Akira Uchiha swore loudly as a bladed fist swung wildly at his face.

He rolled out of the way quickly, dodging strike after strike from his opponent.

"Sharingan! Sharingan! Shit!" The thirteen year old couldn't summon his father's kekkai genkai no matter how frightened of death he grew, not his death, but the death of his teammate and crush, Io Nara, who was unconscious across the green field he was currently jumping and rolling in.

The ninja he was facing laughed maniacally at him, toying with the boy. Knowing damn well he could end the battle at any minute.

"Akira!" Ryu Inuzuka shouted from several feet away, too wounded to stand. Blood was trickling from his nose.

The genin were seriously outmatched.

"Hang on Ryu! I'll save us!" A heavy kick knocked Akira backwards and he rolled across the grass.

"Stupid children." The enemy ninja cracked his neck, "No one is going to save you."

"I would not be so sure about that!"

"What?"

"Sensei." Akira said, looking up in awe as a green clad man fell from the sky, a pair of matching nunchaku in his hands.

"My name is Rock Lee of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and these are my pupils you have assaulted." Lee looked up, a charming smile on his face, "And for that, I will have to kill you."

Akira blacked out just as the battle began.

Some time later, he awoke, with a grinning Rock Lee standing over him. The enemy ninja lay dead some yards away.

"Are you alright my youthful student?"

"I'm okay." Akira suddenly leapt to his feet, "Io? Ryu?"

"Io is resting now," Lee said, placing a reassuring hand on his pupil's shoulder, "And Ryu is watching her."

Akira sat back down, placing his head in his hands.

"What is troubling you, Akira?"

Akira sighed deeply, "I can't do it."

"The sharingan?" Lee asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah."

"Hmm." The sensei sat down next to his trouble disciple, "My best friend had a kekkai genkai, not unlike yourself."

"Did he have trouble using it?"

"No," Lee said calmly, "I believe he was truly the best with the Byakugan of anyone in the village."

"How is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Lee exhaled slowly, "Because he died. All his skill with the Byakugan couldn't save him. I couldn't save him. No one could."

Akira stared down at his feet, unable to understand what Lee was getting at.

"What I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't rely so heavily on something you've never successfully done. You can't rely on something saving you that you can't even do. You have to train at what you can do. Do it better than anyone else."

"Like you and taijutsu?" Akira asked.

"Well yes," Lee answered, "Or Naruto Uzumaki and his shadow clone jutsu... or your mother and her strength."

Something about Naruto's name interested Akira. The man was a legend in the village, and a friend of his parents, but he had been off fighting a war for nearly 12 years, Akira had never met the Uzumaki, as far as he knew.

His mother often spoke of him.

The boy shook those thoughts away, "But I just want to be a real Uchiha."

"You are," Lee smiled at the naive boy, "Even if you never can do the Sharingan. It's in your blood. It's who you are."

Lee shook Akira's copper hair out from in front of his green eyes and stood up.

"Now come on. We've got a mission to complete."

* * *

Sakura Uchiha sat up slowly in bed. The alarm clock on her nightstand read 5:03am. She couldn't sleep. Her only child was on his first mission, and she had worried herself sick.

Beside her, Sasuke Uchiha lay sleeping. She looked briefly at his face. Oddly enough, she thought to herself, in this light he was almost indistinguishable from her other teammate.

In fact there had been more than one occasion where upon waking in the middle of the night, she would look over and swear that it was Naruto and not Sasuke beside her. She had no explanation for this.

But she knew who she had married, and she knew who was sleeping soundly beside her. Gently, she poked his forehead with her finger. He smiled in his slumber.

She returned her attention to the window. The dawn was just beginning to arrive, and the whole of the village was coated in a grey-blue mist.

She thought of her son far away.

Then she thought of her other teammate. Naruto. And how it had been nearly twelve years since the original members of Team Kakashi had all been together. And how tomorrow that would change.

She stretched, rose to her feet, and walked the short distance to the large window. She pressed her hand against the glass. It was cool to the touch. She looked across the village to the Hokage Monument. She could have sworn that she saw two figures at the very top.

She chuckled to herself, shook off her suspicion, turned away from the window, and walked downstairs to start a pot of tea.

* * *

"Take this." Naruto handed a bucket of paint to Shikamaru, who was already carrying three others.

"Dammit Naruto, my hands are full already."

"Quit complaining, I have to take get the brushes out." Naruto pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it over the side of the Hokage Monument. The sparks sprayed as the small paper tube crashed into a rock face below.

He pulled off his canvas rucksack and drew two large paintbrushes from within its mostly filled interior.

"Here's yours." He said, handing Shikamaru one of them, "And here's mine."

"This is really what you want to do with your last day as a normal ninja?"

"Yep." Naruto said, smiling at the rising sun, "One last time."

Shikamaru dropped the buckets of paint at the soon to be Hokage's feet. He put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Just one more time." and Naruto grinned.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One.**

Kakashi, the current Hokage of Konoha, frowned at the sight before him.

Someone had defaced the entirety of the Hokage Monument, with thick black and red paint. His own face had been graffitied with huge red lips over his mask. He was disappointed, albeit frankly a little apathetic.

After today, it wouldn't be his responsibility to delegate the cleaning off of said graffiti, or to delegate punishment to whomever the vandal responsible was.

That responsibility would belong to the ninja currently sitting next to him at the Ichiraku Ramen stand. On the opposite side of him was Shikamaru, who was presently arguing with Naruto.

"The greatest Hokage was Sarutobi, there's no denying that- Uh, sorry Kakashi." Shikamaru offered a half-hearted apology.

"You're only saying that because Asuma was your sensei!"

"Well you're only fighting for Minato because the Fourth was your father!"

"Guys," Kakashi sighed, "It's ten in the morning, why don't we save the yelling for a little bit later in the day."

The two silently nodded and returned to their ramen.

"Besides, hasn't twelve years together given you plenty of time to argue already?"

Shikamaru smirked. Naruto chuckled.

"War makes you crazy," Naruto teased, "You know that, Kakashi."

"Yes, I do." Kakashi answered half-seriously, "I think it was probably Sakura's kid."

"What?" Naruto asked, a little too quickly. A little too intensely.

"That vandalized the monument. He's actually quite the prankster... no. No, wait. He's on a mission right now. Not due back until this evening."

Naruto spoke with a reserved curiosity, "He's a genin already?"

"He's thirteen now. Put him on a team with _your_ daughter, actually, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru suddenly froze, "Oh shit."

"What's wrong."

"I was supposed to..." Shikamaru stood up, "I have a wife to visit. Naruto cover this one and I'll pay you back later, okay?"

"Yeah sure." Naruto answered, half noticing the urgency of his partner's departure.

"I'll see you guys around."

Kakashi saluted Shikamaru as he briskly walked from the stand, his heavy pack shaking behind him.

"What time did you guys get in last night?"

"Around midnight." Naruto said quickly, "Who's his sensei?"

"Lee."

Naruto's eyes widened and he laughed, "Oh perfect. That's perfect. I bet Sakura got a kick out of that one."

"She found it very funny, yes. I don't suppose you've seen either of them yet. Have you?"

"No." Naruto said, softly, sadly, "Shikamaru and I have just been... I dunno."

"I see."

The bill was placed before Naruto and he stared at the numbers on the page blankly.

"Are you alright?"

"It's been twelve years." Naruto said simply, "Shikamaru and I haven't changed all that much. We're older now. Maybe a little quieter. Maybe not. But everyone else."

"Are you regretting leaving?" Kakashi asked.

"No," Naruto answered, "I did for a long time. But we were needed out there. If we hadn't gone, more ninjas would have had to go in our place. Maybe they wouldn't have made it home. You know?"

"I do." Kakashi scratched his head, "We owe you a debt, Naruto. Both of you."

"That's not what I meant..." Naruto bowed his head softly, reached into his pocket and pulled out enough money to cover the whole bill, "You can pay me back sometime."

"For the ramen?"

"Yeah for the ramen. What else?" Naruto grinned at his former sensei.

* * *

Akira Uchiha yawned. He looked ahead at his sensei, carrying a dozing Ryu on his back. Io walked beside them, looking sternly at the ground.

They had been walking for almost six hours, making the journey home.

Akira was tired. His feet hurt. His eyes were fighting to close. His whole body was tense and aching. But he had been the one to suggest departing immediately in order to make it back for the Hokage ceremony, so he did not complain.

Aloud, at least.

They had finished their mission quietly, and without any other incident. Io had spent the first three hours resting on Lee's back, and then Ryu had volunteered to take her place. Akira had been up the longest, except for his sensei, and his thirteen year old body was struggling with it. But if it meant seeing the legendary Naruto Uzumaki be officially dubbed the Seventh Hokage, it would be worth all the pain.

It was nearly noon, they had all been up for two days straight, and the ceremony began at six that evening. They had three hours of walking left.

Akira was already calculating how long he would be able to nap in his own bed in his own home before the induction started.

"I'm sleepy. Boy." He said, yawning, but not complaining.

No one responded. Akira quickened his pace to match that of his team's.

"I thought you were watching the rear, Akira." Lee said, matter-of-factly.

"It's boring back there," Akira explained, "I'm worried I'll fall asleep."

"Understood." Lee sympathized with the sleepy genin, "You and Io take point, I'll follow."

Lee dropped his pace to allow his students to pass him, then, still carrying Ryu, he followed slowly.

Akira and Io walked in silence for some time. Then, the Uchiha spoke.

"Hey."

Io said nothing.

"You seem to be feeling a lot better!"

Io said nothing.

"Well... are you?"

Io looked over at him, then quickened her pace, leaving Akira to watch her speed ahead.

Lee spoke from behind, "Do not worry, my student, she is dealing with the outcome of the battle in her own way."

"I see." Akira said, quietly defeated.

He had never had much luck with Io. In childhood they had been great friends. Their mothers had arranged playdates and the two grew up together almost as family. Then puberty hit, and Io became embarrassed to be seen associating with the less than popular Akira. She took a liking to quiet boys like Jun Aburame. The strong and silent type. Akira had never been overly strong, and he had never been especially quiet.

He had been called 'weak' and 'loud' specifically by several students and teachers.

But one thing he had never been called, and was certain to always be, was persistent. So he quickened his pace to match Io's.

"If you feel weak, right now," He began, "Or like you failed the mission or you messed up, you shouldn't. You didn't."

After a short silence, Io spoke up, "Yeah I did."

"No." Akira said sharply, "No, no, no. You didn't. You really didn't. You took a blow that probably would have knocked me out, and still managed to drag Ryu out of the way of that guy's crazy fists."

Akira thought back to that specific moment, when an deflected explosive kunai fell barely ten feet away from Io. She had rolled like a pro, taking only minor concussive damage from the explosion. Then without missing a beat, she sprinted across the field to where Ryu was standing, mere seconds before the enemy ninja's fist came cutting through the air. She grabbed her teammate, and fell to the ground, ducking the attack and allowing Akira the opportunity to tackle their opponent.

A short while later, Io was knocked unconscious by a kick to the back of the head.

The explosive kunai that nearly killed her had been thrown by Akira, and batted away by the bladed-fist ninja, who had sent it spiraling in her direction.

She hadn't messed up. He had. But since she was the strongest member of the team, she was taking all the weight on her own.

"Yeah." She quietly said, before returning to silence.

Akira looked ahead, the road before them was long yet.

He frowned grimly and carried on.

* * *

Sakura Haruno smiled at the potted plant in her window sill. She smiled at her book left open and unfinished on the kitchen table. She smiled at the half-empty mug of tea in front of her. She smiled at the empty chairs around her. She smiled at the twelfth year of her retirement.

She loved the doldrums most. When she had no errands to run, no places to take Akira, no annoying dinners with Sasuke that they planned almost habitually.

These were the moments she shined in. Moments where she could check in with Sakura. With her true, simple, beautiful self.

She heard the toilet flush and the bathroom door creak open.

Sasuke, her equally retired husband walked into the kitchen, half-clothed in a pair of boxer shorts. It was nearly two in the afternoon, and he was only just waking up.

"Morning." He yawned, scratching his back.

"Good afternoon," Sakura took a sip from her tea, "Sleepy-head."

Sasuke smiled as he walked past her. He opened up the fridge, and bent over to inspect its contents.

"Akira comes home today." He stated.

"Yes," Sakura confirmed, "They should be in around evening."

"They'll miss the ceremony."

Both parents were ignoring the possibility that Akira's team might not return at all. Such was the life of the ninja.

"It will be good to have the kid back." Sasuke said.

Sakura smiled, "Hasn't felt like home without our little guy."

"When is it again? The ceremony"

"It starts at six." Sakura said, sipping from her tea.

"You wanna go eat before?"

Sakura hadn't eaten anything since her breakfast, and was starting to feel the hunger in her gut.

"Maybe if we go to Ichiraku we'll run into Naruto." Sasuke said, shutting the fridge without grabbing a thing, "I mean, he has to be back by now."

"I don't know." Sakura answered, "Don't you think he would have..."

"What?"

"I don't know," Sakura searched for words, "Come to see us or something?"

"Nah, Naruto isn't like that." Sasuke yawned, "He doesn't impose."

"I guess you're right." Sakura agreed, sadly.

"C'mon. It's our last chance to see him before he's Hokage."

Sakura twisted her lip. Something in her heart was telling her that going out was a bad idea. That seeing Naruto was a bad idea. She hadn't the slightest idea as to why, but she was afraid to see her old friend.

"Well I'm gonna go out." Sasuke said, walking off to get dressed.

"Hang on." Sakura said, steeling herself and standing up, "I'll go too."


End file.
